THE FREEZER

 THE FREEZER

by Bob French

A week before Christmas, all Billy could think about was the Galaxy 500. Not just any skateboard. The Galaxy 500. It had soft rubber wheels that hardly made a sound, shiny silver trucks, and the best suspension you could imagine. Gary said you could jump kerbs without rattling your teeth loose and Jemma swore she'd seen one fly down Miller's Hill faster than a bicycle.

          Billy wanted one so badly it hurt. Every evening, after school, he would stop outside Mr. Collin’s sports shop and stare through the window at the bright blue board perched on its stand. Sometimes he imagined it was already his. He could almost feel the grip tape beneath his trainers. But dreams didn't cost anything, the skateboard did.

          His mum worked long hours, and her boyfriend, Alf, seemed to spend more time sitting in the kitchen with a can of lager than doing anything useful. When Alf had been drinking, everyone learned to keep out of his way, that included Pongo.

Pongo was Billy’s scruffy brown dog with floppy ears, muddy paws, and a tail that never stopped wagging. Billy loved him more than anything. Pongo loved Billy too. Unfortunately, Pongo also loved chasing cats, stealing socks, chewing shoes and, every now and then, knocking over the living room coffee table while racing around after an imaginary squirrel.

          "That dog's going to be the death of me," Alf would growl whenever he found another cushion ripped open.  Billy would hug Pongo tightly and whisper, "You don't mean it, do you?" Pongo would lick his face as if to apologize.

          Whenever Alf’s temper started to rise, Billy disappeared. He hid in the cellar. Not against the back wall, never there. The back wall was always in partial darkness and belonged to the enormous white chest freezer. It sat beneath the tiny window like some sleeping monster, humming quietly to itself. His mum kept all the meat inside it. Every payday she'd fill it with packets wrapped in paper and plastic before carefully locking the lid.

          The cellar only had one weak light bulb that buzzed overhead.  What made the room scary was that when people walked past his house in the evening, street lamps outside created shadows that drifted through the tiny window, stretching into long black shapes that slid silently over the walls and the cold floor.

          To Billy, they looked like ghosts. He would sit in the darkest corner with Pongo curled beside him until the shouting upstairs stopped.

          As Christmas grew closer, the house grew noisier. Money was tight and Alf drank more. His mum looked more tired every day. Billy stopped asking Father Christmas for the Galaxy 500 because he could see the worry in her face whenever she counted coins at the kitchen table; Still...Every night he whispered the same wish before falling asleep.

          “Please. Just this once.”  Three nights before Christmas everything exploded. Pongo had pulled the Christmas turkey off the kitchen table. The bird landed on the floor. At that moment, Alf came home already drunk. When he saw the ruined dinner, he exploded with rage.

           "You useless mutt!" Pongo ran behind Billy. Alf grabbed for him. "I'll kill the stupid dog!"

Billy threw himself in front of Alf. "No!" Alf shoved him aside.

His mum rushed between them, pushing Billy behind her.

          "You leave him alone!"

Alf was shaking with anger. "I'll dump the stupid dog in the freezer!"

Billy felt every word like ice inside his chest. The freezer, the place where his mum always put all the dead meats in. The humming white box in the dark cold cellar.

          His mum stood firm. "For the last time... get out!"

Alf shouted for another minute before slamming the front door so hard the windows rattled. Billy sat on the stairs holding Pongo for what felt like hours.

          Christmas morning arrived cold and silent. Billy woke before sunrise. For one magical second, he forgot everything.

          Christmas. He raced downstairs in his pyjamas. His stocking hung over the fireplace. His heart pounded. He reached inside. An orange. A pair of socks. A chocolate coin. Nothing else.

          His stomach sank. He tried not to cry. He really did. But the tears came anyway. He carried the stocking upstairs and buried his face in his pillow. Maybe Father Christmas hadn't been able to find his house. Maybe the Galaxy 500 had always been impossible. Nearly an hour later there was a gentle knock on his bedroom door.

          "Billy?" It was his Mum. "Can we talk?" He wiped his eyes and followed her downstairs. The house felt different. Quiet, too quiet. Alf’s jacket was gone. His boots had disappeared from beside the back door.

          "Where's Alf?"

          "I asked him to leave," Mum said softly. "For good." Billy stared. Then another thought struck him. "Where's Pongo?"

His mum turned away, avoiding eye contact. His heart began racing. "Where is he?"

His Mum reached for his hand. "Come with me." She led him slowly down the stairs toward the cellar.

          Billy tried to resist.  "No..." The stairs creaked beneath their feet. The weak bulb buzzed overhead. The familiar humming filled the cold room. The freezer waited in the shadows.

          Billy couldn't breathe. His fingers tightened around his Mum's hand. She stopped beside the huge white lid.

          "I need you to be brave," she whispered. His eyes filled with tears.

“Pongo. My Poor Pongo.”

He buried his face against her skirt. "I don't want to see him Mum..."

          She stroked his hair gently, then She lifted the lid. Tommy looked.

For one terrible heartbeat he felt his legs give way as he screamed.

The sound echoed around the cellar. He stumbled backwards and landed hard on the concrete floor and began to sob. His Mum hurried to him.

          "It's all right love. It's all right."

          She helped him to his feet and gently eased him towards the open freezer. "Look again."

          Slowly...Very slowly, Billy peered into the freezer. There was no dog. No horrible secret.

Only a huge cardboard box wrapped in bright Christmas paper. Across the top was a silver label. GALAXY 500, Complete with soft rubber tyres. Super suspension. Exactly like the one from Mr. Collins' shop.

          Billy stared. He couldn't speak. He looked around wildly. Suddenly Pongo came charging from behind a stack of old boxes, barking happily before jumping up and licking his face.

Billy laughed through his tears. He hugged Pongo, then he hugged his mum even tighter.

Copyright Bob French